Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Correspondence to Dr Sarah L Dalglish; sarah.
Recent years have seen increasing momentum towards task shifting of basic health services, including using community health workers CHW to diagnose and treat common childhood illnesses.
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We examine these issues in Tshopo Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country with high rates of child mortality deaths per live births. Meanwhile, CHWs did not receive adequate training, supervision or supplies to provide child health services. Considering their accessibility, acceptability, affordability and ability to recognise all domains of illness biomedical and spiritual , traditional healers can be seen as the de facto CHWs in Tshopo Province.
National and international health policymakers should account for and involve this cadre of health workers when planning child health services and seeking to implement policies and programmes that genuinely engage with community health systems. Keywords: child health, health policy, public health, health systems, community health, traditional medicine, traditional healers. Community health systems are increasingly understood as the ecosystems in which high-quality health services are delivered.
Task shifting to community health workers CHW can be an effective way to deliver treatment and care to sick children in the community. In Tshopo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, traditional healers fulfil many of the functions nominally ascribed to CHWs, including by providing affordable, socially acceptable care that is close to the home, and liaising with the formal health system via referrals.
